10
by Alustriel Silverhand
Summary: Hundreds of vampires. Ten children. One vampire hunter. The story that Polk told to the folks of the town of Galuisa only scrapped the surface. Here is the story in all its bloody glory, a tale of D's greatest challenge and tragedy. Read on.
1. Scene 1

Scene 1

There never was an adequate way to describe him.

Like liquified darkness the black rider guided his steed across the plains. Where he went the wind crystallized as if it too revered his presence. Tall stalks of grass bent beneath the horse's hooves while small creatures darted away, at first mesmerized by the rider's elegant beauty, but quickly fleeing from the miasma that soon followed.

This was Vampire Hunter D.

The town he rode towards was non-descript, like any other the dhampire approached. A few dozen dilapidated houses huddled around a town square like old men crowding a small campfire. Tumbleweeds floated by in absence of children affording the whole scene an eerie feeling. D could feel his symbiont squirming inside his glove but gave no pause as he kept his steed on the course towards the town square.

There stood half a dozen townsfolk quietly arguing amongst themselves. The sight, or feeling of him, silenced them, however.

"I am D, the hunter." His voice was winter; beautiful, deadly, cold.

A pudgy man of about fifty or sixty coughed and said, "Thank you for coming. I'm the mayor, Bradford. If you can dismount I'll have someone stable your horse and set up lodgings for you while we discuss the...matter."

Wordlessly the vampire hunter slid off his steed and passed the reins to a young man. The lad's eyes beamed, impressed by the steed but took it away without saying anything. D had that kind of affect on people. All the townsfolk looked at him in a daze as if he were moonlight after a long walk in pure darkness.

Ten minutes later they crowded a one-room school with several of the townsfolk seated at desks or on benches. While enthralled by his presence none dared to get too close. Even the women who must have imagined D in every possible scenario that would fulfill their dreams both pure and carnal alike maintained their distance.

The long curved sword at his back probably helped.

"Won't you...have a seat?" Bradford asked, gesturing to the teacher's desk.

D asked a question of his own, as he was wont to do. "Your letter said 'many vampires'. How many vampires exactly?"

A woman whispered, "We don't really know, but the cult has a lot of followers."

"Cult?" The hoarse voice that said that didn't sound like D at all, and several of the townsfolk looked around, unable to pinpoint it. "I don't like the sounds of that."

Clenching his left hand into a fist the vampire hunter continued on, placid as a lake on a calm summer day. If a single eyelash batted it would be a huge event as his face didn't ripple with a single worry-line. "And the kidnapped?"

A few of the women covered their faces and one cried. Bradford cleared his throat. "They took ten kids. One here and there...then they started on taking two and then three and then...well you probably saw how empty the streets are."

"Names?"

The mayor rattled off the names. "James. Tommy. Dylan. Annie. Clyde. Sam. Simone. Chase. Serena."

"And payment?" Not a crink in his stance nor voice. He was carved of stone.

"We have enough...barely, but we do." Bradford gestured with his chin at one of the men and they approached D. He dropped a sack of coins at the table next to the vampire hunter then retreated to the other side of the room. The sound as it clanked upon on the wood was the only sound reverberating in the school. It was as if the very hopes of that entire town lay in that bag, heavy and sad.

"That's a deposit. We want you because we want the best. Only the best can bring back our kids and we want them back." Though a hint of desperation clung to the mayor's tone he kept most of it business-like perhaps sensing that emotions rarely influenced this cold-as-ice young man.

"You said ten."

"Um, what?" The townsfolk looked at each other, confused.

"You named nine kids. Who is the tenth?"

For some reason the mayor looked distinctly uncomfortable. No one spoke for many long moments, all of the townsfolk looking similarily awkward. Apparently this was a question they sought to avoid, but of course the vampire hunter's keenness fettered the inconsistency out.

The door to the school opened, bringing in with it the cool night's air. A woman of long black tresses stood in the doorway, the sight of which made all the men stare lust-filled and the woman glare, jealous. Her beauty was the kind that all envied, such that while not entirely on level with the otherwordly elegance of the vampire hunter certainly gave him a run for his dallas.

"It's Dan." The woman's voice had the hint of youth tempered by wisdom and strength. "It's good to see you again, D."

D's voice lowered just barely but any who heard it would gape, astonished. "Doris."


	2. Scene 2

Scene 2

He was the same as ever.

Tall. Dark. Handsome. The traditional way of describing the beautiful stranger hardly scratched the surface of this man, as starlight barely touches on the radiance of a sun. Or the moon. Moon being a more appropriate metaphor for him. Otherworldly. Elegant. Surrounded by darkness and yet somehow standing apart.

And like the moon, she was drawn to him, gazing at D agape as she had when the dhampire first hauled down his scarf and lifted his hat to reveal his face.

Now he sat on a couch in the lavish room of the hotel that had been arranged for the vampire hunter. After her timely (and planned) appearance at the school, the dhampire asked for the mayor to proceed with the accomodations and asked (well, ordered) the young woman to accompany him.

A glass of some murky liquid lay on a glass table between them, untouched. Her own drink barely felt her lips as she swirled the wine with a finger, the young huntress's mind very much elsewhere. When she and her brother came to pick up supplies in this town they'd seperated to get the job done faster. She'd only noticed Dan's disapperance after the sun had gone down-and feared the worst. And the worst was realized.

"When was he taken?" It was the first time the dhampire had spoken since they'd sat down.

"A few weeks ago. I searched for him day in, day out." Doris chewed her lip, then forced herself to be still. "He was the first taken. No one helped me until more kids went missing."

"Why ten?"

Doris shook her head. "We don't know. But we do know it was vampires that took the kids."

"How do you know that?"

"One of the parents saw her daughter taken away and she said there was no mistake about it-she saw red eyes, fangs, white skin..." Her voice faded away, staring at the vampire hunter. Perhaps he didn't exhibit those traits now, but the huntress knew they existed within him. She knew it because she'd seen it.

There was so many questions she longed to ask the dhampire. Like why didn't he write back to Dan? Where did he travel to? Did he find someone else...but how likely was that? Here he was, stoic as ever, cold as winter winds. She knew those winds, felt those, been repelled by them. And she also knew that dhampire was like winter in another way: you're attracted to the sight but chilled by the feeling. And if you stayed too long in its presence you might end up dead.

Instead of asking the questions in her heart she asked the question in her head. "Will you take this misson on? We will pay..." Doris flushed thinking about the payment she'd offered for D should he save her from Count Magnus Lee. He never did get a chance to collect on that payment...

More's the pity, as far as she was concerned.

D's head inclined so very slightly, but the huntress knew that meant an affirmative. She longed to throw her arms around him, sob in relief in his embrace, beg him to stay with them when this was all over. It had been two years since the vampire hunter came into her life...how did he manage to ensare her so easily again? But again she resisted her natural urges. D wouldn't likely respond well to that and there was Dan to consider; she couldn't risk alienating the only vampire hunter likely strong enough to bring him back.

"Where were they taken?" D again, deadpanned.

"The Capitol. I will take you to the city."

"I go alone." Was that a hint of tension in his immaculate voice?

Doris bristled. "No. He's my brother. Besides you'll need all the help you can get."

"You'll just be in the way." There wasn't annoyance in his voice, just cold, hard fact.

"He's my brother. I have to protect him. I failed to before." Her head bowed, long dark tresses falling over her face.

D stood before her. She only knew this because the huntress saw his tall black boots; he'd risen so quietly it almost appeared that the vampire hunter was on the couch one moment and his feet the next. It would take some time for her to get familarized with his strange power again. And to the mysterious hold his penetrating eyes had on her heart.

"Where are you staying in the city?" he asked.

Doris started, then shook her head. She'd already nearly exhausted her reserve of dalas-anymore and she's cut into the money she'd set aside to pay D. Of course, she could always pay him that other way...

With an almost inperceptible tilt of his head and the dhampire gestured to the attached bedroom to the suite. "Take the bed. I'll rest here."

For a moment, the young woman thought to protest but gazing into his dark eyes she felt all the fight vaporize from her. He had that way of getting his way with a slight bash of his eyelashes, or just in the manner the dhampire peered at a person. As if by a spell, Doris rose and found her feet carried her to the room.

She never saw the twitch of emotion on D's face as she closed the door.


	3. Scene 3

Scene 3

"She still got your balls."

The slight twist of D's eyebrows should have alerted the symbiont that he was trying the dhampire's rapidly withering patience, but the counteanced carbunle just rambled on, as he had been for the past hour. The dhampire for his part just slipped on his armor, gloves, cloak, boots, hat (all black or some variation on that theme) and sheathed his sword in silence but a shadow darkened his face, testament to just how close Leftie was to being cut off. Literally.

"You've barely been in her presence for twelve hours and already I feel that anxiety in your blood, that catch in your breath..." Leftie almost appeared amused, but there was an undercurrent of worry. "The one woman that got under your skin and now she's sleeping in your bed and you find yourself wanting to-"

The hand became a tight fist.

"Be quiet." There was no room for debate in the soft steeliness of that voice.

D stepped into the room he'd told Doris to take, standing and staring for just a moment. Count Lee couldn't have selected a more ravishing specimen to fixate on; she was simply the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Then his left hand fell onto her forehead. There was no need for communication-the symbiont knew what the dhampire demanded and soon the young woman's troubled sleeping became tranquil and deep. As a wind he departed, shutting the door with less sound than a breath.

It didn't take long for the dhampire to collect the supplies he'd arranged for, loading them on his cybernetic horse. In a single bound the vampire hunter was on its back, bidding it to gallop for the gates. As he passed the town and its ruined houses and ruined homes, D favored not a one with a glance. The enchantment that Leftie bound Doris in would keep her asleep for hours, but the dhampire didn't long to face her if she should defy expectation and awake before he was far away from this place.

"Yep, you're scared shitless of her."

"Don't." There was an serrated edge to that word.

"You're only making things worse for the both of you. You should just face her, give her what both of you want and then move on." Again that mixture of admonishment and apprenhension from the counteanced carbuncle. "You're just prolonging your pain and hers." A long drawn out sigh, then: "Just do her, suck her blood and then kiss her goodbye. She'd be happier that way. And so would you."

"No." What exactly was D saying that single word in response to? Or was it to everything?

"It's killing you, D. You can fool her, fool the old farts here, even fool yourself. But I know you too long and too well not to know when you're in that deep. Listen, when your father was around your mother-"

A flash of silver came within an inch of his left hand's wrist. "I'm warning you." The hue of D's voice didn't lift beyond a conversational tone but between the slender sword and the edge in his eyes Leftie knew that the dhampire was pushed to that point. Something like a sigh escaped the hunter's pale lips. "We're at the gate now, and we won't have to bother with her anymore."

If only it was that easy. For, of course, it wasn't.

In a traditional huntress garb of silk shirt worn under an outerwear corset and hunting trousers made of the finest leather sat a girl on a cybernetic horse. A whip flashed from the early morning sun. Her long dark hair appeared as a host of ravens around her nearly perfect pearly face and mischevious smile.

"Good morning, D," said Doris. She appeared quite proud of herself.

D didn't address her, rather his symbiont. Flipping up his palm to face him, the dhampire said, "You didn't put her to sleep."

"Oh, what, now you want to talk to me?" snapped the counteaunced carbuncle. Seeing the shadow return in twofold force on the dhampire's face he hurried on. "I did! You failed to take into account that this is the same chick that resisted being a zombie-slave to Count Magnus Lee after he bit her."

"You remembered and still you didn't remind me."

A self-satisfied smirk crossed the symbiont's lips.

"Well," Doris cut in, leather gloves gripping her steed's reins. "We should be going. If we ride hard all day we should reach the port to take us to the Capitol before nightfall."

With a click of his tongue, the dhampire instructed his mount to canter. "You're not coming."

"Stop me then."

A glance over his shoulder gave D a view of the young woman's straight shoulders and firmly-set lips. The idea of having Leftie to send her back to sleep or using the blunt edge of his sword to knock her out crossed his mind briefly but the dhampire dismissed it. She would likely tire of the harshness of life on the road and turn back on her own. He could afford to entertain her foolish bravado.

As he turned his head back to face the road ahead, the dhampire heard her speak again.

"I know I was a damsel in distress before. I know you think that's all I still am. Not worthy of your respect or your..." Here she halted, appearing to change her train of thought. "But I've changed, D. And I can help. I will help. I will show you."

Not looking back at all what D said in response was, "Tail me if you wish, but stay out of my way."

The hurried hoofbeats behind him told the dhampire she'd heard and was hot at his heels.

"Yep, she got your balls in a bag. Are you gonna fetch them back any time soon?"

In the second incredible moment of the day, the vampire hunter let the comment pass without rebuke, instead straining his hands around the reins.

He...they...had a lot of ground to cover.


	4. Scene 4

Scene 4

If she had thought he would go easy on her, Doris quickly learned how wrong she was.

It wasn't until the darkest of night did D finally halt his horse and that was because the horse made a few snorts and stamps of protest, not for him or her. Slipping off the steed with all the grace of a moonbeam the vampire hunter quickly lifted his saddlebags to locate his bedroll and spread it out beside a tree in one single moment. Then he planted his back against the bark, hat lowered over his face, sword across his legs.

He did all that in the time it took for her to dismount.

Doris slid out her own bedroll, shrugging out of the outerwear corset and stretching in her hunting leathers and silk shirt. The bubbling brook nearby drew her gaze but she knew nourishment was more important. Who knew for how long the dhampire would rest? If she didn't eat now she'd be forced to eat on the road and that was a perilous effort at best.

Nibbling along some hard tack, the huntress glanced at the dhampire. While he was a flurry of activity a moment before now the vampire hunter didn't move a muscle, appearing asleep. She knew he was not. What rest D deigned to take would still keep him alert to any danger. And there was danger aplenty in the forest at night.

Still crickets and nightbirds sang their song, and creatures hopped and slithered in the darkness. She was no waif and didn't fear the monsters that lurked within. With D there, even inert as he was, Doris didn't worry. In fact, her mind fluttered back to her brother. Her lip trembled again. The boy grew up fast, strong and proud. He could survive kidnapping by vampires...couldn't he? Maybe against one, possibly against two, and how likely against the rumored dozens?

Swallowing the last morsel as if to swallow the bleak thoughts down, the huntress stood and stepped over to the brook. Moonlight sparkled over the waters, a shimmer not unlike that which graced D when he lifted his head and his eyes gazed out. Beautiful and utterly untouchable. Oh, she'd stripped through his shields one time, the moment their lips met. She'd disrobed then and was delighted to see his eyes stray over her form, a heat in them even the ice-cold hunter couldn't conceal.

With a sigh, Doris slipped the shirt over her head and tossed it to the side of the corset. She glanced back at D, but he might as well have been a part of the tree for all the life he conveyed. The hunting trousers soon followed her shirt, but still D didn't make a single motion. Giving an almost irritated sound from her throat, Doris shrugged out of her underclothes and stuck a toe into the brook.

Freezing. Oh well, she'd better get use to it. Her body warmth would heat it soon enough.

"You shouldn't do that."

Like the cold water slashed all over her, the huntress stopped and sharply glanced at D. Still the vampire hunter remained seated underneath the tree, his fedora concealing his face, but Doris sensed his attention was at last on her. Not for the reason she'd hoped, but it was better than the disdainful, almost condescending, silence he'd favored her with all day.

"Why not?" Tempted to stick her tongue out, Doris kept it behind her teeth, thinking she didn't need another reason to make D consider her a childish damsel.

"There are creatures out there waiting for us to let our guard down."

The words flew out of her before Doris could stop them. "And far be it from D to let anyone ever catch him with his guard down."

There was a moment between them and Doris couldn't tell if it was tension wafting in the air or simply D contemplating what to say next. Without preamble the vampire hunter suddenly stood, clutching his sword. He stepped right past her shimmering naked form without a glance her way and disappeared into the darkness. Or became one with them, as he was often wont to do.

Had she angered him or was the dhampire simply no longer interested in the conversation? It frustrated her. Here she was on a mission to rescue her brother and while worry creased her forehead on more than a dozen occasions, always the huntress found her mind rushing back to his elegant face. It was almost wicked to him around her again, opening up a wound the young woman had thought closed.

A single crack of a twig steeled every cell in her body. Shadows slid around the forest leaving little mocking shrieks. There was no time to dress. Doris rushed to her whip and hefted it, testing its weight in her hand.

With a loud scream the monster attacked.

As if incorperal, Doris's body spun around as she whipped around her whip. A wet smack told her she'd hit home. The creature let out another scream, of rage and pain now. It darted back, unpleasantly startled to find the nude waif of a girl not an easy target, but a sleeping dog not to be awakened. And the animal in Doris had woke, exhibited in her vicious, but not uncoordinated, attack.

A werewolf, the huntress noted and even as she thought this her mind calculated what strike to follow up with. Around and around the whip swirled, leaving gash after gash on the beast. Its talons flew at Doris, but the young woman was not where they aimed, leaping over them. Darting this way and that, she didn't take a single strike, but landed plenty of her own.

The werewolf gave one last half-hearted attempt to take down his "prey". As fast as half the speed of sound, the black beast sprang at her, all claws bared. Out came the whip, a bright blast of leather in the face of the werewolf. Blood burst out like a terrible blossom, coating the young woman in the flith. The body dropped as a boulder into the brook. Pink colored the otherwise pristine waters.

Doris blew the matted, bloodied hair out of her face. She was a mess.

Of course who should be standing across the brook but D, looking as fine as ever. His blade had tasted blood a dozen times at least...as had some very unpleasant entrails, but he was none the worse for wear. If anything the aura of death only enhanced his beauty, made him appear as an dark angel to steal away life.

"You should bathe." Then, as if he'd never moved at all, the vampire hunter slid comfortably back under the tree, once again as a statue that birds might perch on.


	5. Scene 5

Scene 5

She enchanted him.

In the deepest, darkest recess of his oft-forgotten heart, Doris had found a key, locked it up and opened it at her whim. D just did his best to keep her unaware of the power she held over him. After all, while the greatest vampire hunter on the planet could face elder vampires, cybergenetic monsters and even a small nuclear explosion he couldn't stand to face Doris.

From the shadow of his fedora the dhampire could glimpse the werewolf huntress astride her horse. The long dark hair streamed behind her, sunlight bouncing off the locks and her skin-tight outfit. Oh, she was beautiful, and not just beautiful in the way that many girls are beautiful, but so delightful to the eyes as to be painful to breathe. But that was only part of why she enchanted him so.

His eyes like the deepness of a river slipped over her whip. Made of the hardest leather as to strip flesh from bones, he'd seen her use it expertly against the werewolf. Yes, Doris could be a waif of a girl at times, but that only seemed when he was at her command. When the dhampire was away she did not balk or beg, but set her whip to stinging, not stopping until she'd slain the beast.

"I bet seeing her hack up that creature got your blood going faster than seeing her in the nude..." came the muttering of his left hand. "And you call me twisted!"

Glancing at Doris again, the hunter realized she had not heard the symbiont...yet. "Be quiet."

"If you finally gave into her wishes, and your own don't you deny, which craving would you satisfy first, I wonder? Stick your fangs into her neck or stick..."

The rest of Leftie's comment was cut short by D who'd squeezed his fingers together so hard one who'd seen might have wondered how he'd not broken them. "You're out of line." As always his voice carried scant higher than a whisper, but carried the weight of a sword at a throat.

To this did Doris turn her head. "D?"

The vampire hunter kept his expression cool, favoring her with the same wintry eyes as he'd had all day long. "We are..." His eyes returned to the plains ahead of them. "...probably an hour away from the port of Nubarol." Then, as if to hurry ahead of the counteanced carbuncle's accusations, he squeezed his horse's flanks lightly with his silver spurs to stir it into a gallop.

Letting out a slight cry of annoyance, Doris followed.

D didn't halt his horse's extreme speed until they could see the light of the port-city of Nubarol. A number of white-sailed ships hovered at the wharf, delightful swans next to the ugly ducklings of a few dories with coats of pant that hadn't seen touch-ups in years. From the bird's view of an overlooking hill, they could see the markets, the library and the government buildings and all other buildings kept in excellent shape. Outside of that circled a long sad line of houses that one could barely call habitatable.

D and Doris rode in silence into the city. It was much too late to catch a ferry out to the mainland so the dhampire lead them to an inn, Diamond in the Rough. It seemed an appropriate enough name-while not a diamond itself per say, admist the human wreckage around it was a relief. Small but not overly so, the dhampire seated them at a table and waved over a waitress.

Young and pretty, the blonde waitress took their order-or, rather, Doris's since D barely had one aside from a glass of their darkest wine. As she scribbled their orders down the waitress's eyes remained trained on D, mesmerized as all women became when first encountering the vampire hunter. Accustomed to it D didn't acknowledge it at all, though he noted that Doris appeared in a bad humor over it.

"Who is the leader of this vampire cult?" D asked after Doris's meal was laid in front of her, and his own drink in front of him. A blood capsule dropped in so quickly that few would ever say that saw it, though it didn't escape the huntress's notice.

"We don't know. She doesn't make herself well known." Doris's plate of food seemed to become ash before her as her face clouded over. "I don't know what's become of Dan or the others."

D tipped his head down, thinking about the young boy of eight. Ten, now, he supposed. Nearing manhood. Bright, cheerful, courageous Dan. The boy that had idolized him for the short time he'd been at their farm. D had once called himself the boy's 'big brother' and had, for a time, felt like one. The boy was easily, instanteously likeable and it grieved him to think of the boy as...changed.

A shadow passed over D's own expression. Changed. Had the boy been changed? And if he had, could he be saved in time? Why had he not considered this before...

Staring at the glassiness of Doris's eyes, he realized they both had-and both had told themselves it could not be true. But if it were...

...if it were, would D be forced to slay him?

As if having been privy to the dark thoughts floating in the dhampire's head, Doris burst, mumbling, "What if something's happened to him?"

"He's fine." Even to D, he realized that sounded flat. What else could he say?

"But what if he isn't?"

"Then I'll kill the one who changed him and he'll be alright."

"But...what if you can't? What if none of them can be saved?" At this point the huntress didn't even look at her plate, her large luminous eyes on D, pleading. In them was the fear of the thing that D himself didn't relish contemplating. The hunter committed many a gruesome act as one who's very existence denoted the frail thread between life and death.

If Dan and the others couldn't be saved he'd have to kill them all.

In his mind's eyes the vampire hunter found himself surrounded by the ten kids all faceless save Dan. Fangs. Crimson eyes. Blood dripping from their lips. Approaching at a slow, agonizing march and with a single swipe of his crescent-shaped sword D cut them all down. Like little broken dolls they lay at his feet, little demons with angels' wings.

"No! D, you can't!" Doris cried, aghast. "I love Dan. And those parents love their kids. Even if they're bitten and they can't be saved somehow, you simply can't..."

She was on her feet now, beautiful again, but lovely in a vulnerable state. Quite the opposite of the fierce sexual creature she was last night, now Doris shook, overcome, a reflection of the woman who was the waif to be rescued. D had often seen this in women and automatically rose to stretch out his arms inviting her into his embrace. It was a reflex, centuries old, to satisfy them briefly with that token of comfort.

But Doris didn't sink into his embrace this time. Her eyes ablaze, she said simply, "If you plan on killing them should they be beyond saving then you'll have to kill me too. I will stand between you and them, I swear it D!" Then the young woman turned around and headed upstairs to the rooms, side-stepping the waitress as she came around to clean their table.

D just quietly slipped back into his chair. The chatter of the waitress flew over his head as his mind wandered back to Doris and her steadfast declaration and rejection of his embrace. Many women had acted tough around the vampire hunter but none had actually turned aside his offer of comfort no matter how upset they were.

Exiting the common room, the dhampire climbed the stairs with his soft stride. His fist remained squeezed shut, keeping his troublesome symbiont from commenting.


	6. Scene 6

Scene 6

Doris awoke with a start.

D was in the room and with his presence, sleep simply wasn't possible any longer. The young woman didn't know how long the dhampire had been there. Like a dark carving of stone he sat on a chair in the far corner of the room peering out the window. His gloved hand pushed back the curtain, his profile barely lit by a single candle in her room.

"D...?" she ventured, sitting up groggily.

With a single stern look he silenced her. It was not an unkind stare; if anything, Doris felt strangely that something significant had changed in the beautiful hunter. His fingers relaxed and let the coarse fabric of the curtain fall, concealing half of his face. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared back.

"We've been followed," came his soft voice.

"Who?"

D didn't answer. His head tilted. Then the vampire hunter rose suddenly and snatched up his sword. "We run," is all he said.

"What?" Though the fog of sleepiness had vanished from her eyes, Doris still felt as if she dreamed, so overcome by the speed at which the dhampire moved.

His hand extended to her. "We run."

Taking his hand, the young woman found herself dragged out of bed. There was no time to throw even a bare robe over her flimsy nightgown. They rushed out the door and down the stairs. Much to the young woman's dismay, the whole common room blazed like hell had erupted in the middle of the floorboards and ate away nearly everything in reach.

Before she knew it, D lifted her in his arms. "Hold me tightly."

For a moment the young woman thought to beat into his chest with her fists, insisting he release her. The memory of their little tiff was fresh in her mind; the thought of D implying that he'd kill the kids if he had to boiled her blood. Besides she was never fond of being carried in such a manner. But aside from the stairs the entire room burned hotter than a stove, fires climbing to the the rapidly disintegrating celling. The second story would be consumed soon after. That would boil her blood a whole lot faster.

Burying her face into his strong-as-steel chest, Doris felt the fires around her as D strode through pillars of flame. His cloak smoked, hat brimmed in little sparks. If not for the hunter's cool body moderating her temparture the huntress thought she might die from the sheer heat.

Doris didn't care for the damsel in distress stance she'd been forced to revert to but anything had to beat being burnt to a crisp. Surely D understood.

Once outside the dhampire lowered her. He shook his hat to smother the fire then stretched out with a hand again.

"Run?" Doris asked, laughing weakly.

He simply nodded.

They ran. They ran so hard it tore the breath from her lungs. All around her was a reflection of the inn, only a thousand-fold. Brightly-painted three story houses burned just like the one-story shacks. Smoke columned from a dozen buildings. People fled out like a swiftly-flowing river, screaming as they went. Even the pretty ships perished in the flame, swans slain and floating listless in the harbor.

If not a single boat remained how could they escape?

Upon approaching the harbor, D steered her past the smoldering boats and other boats that were still burning, smoke high in the night sky. A single ship remained unburned but there appeared comotion on deck as no one responded to the dhampire's softly spoken request to board. For one such as D that was tantamount to sheer impossiblity.

With a sword in one hand and her arm in another, the dhampire lead her up the ramp. Once standing on deck it became quite apparent why the crew hadn't acknowledged their presence.

The ship was swarming with vampires.

Releasing Doris, D exploded into action. Like a shimmering beam of light his sword drew a fine line, decimating the two nearest vampires. He was a sheer pleasure to witness, a dark theatre of death. Vampires howled as they attacked, and howled as they died. Blood and guts splattered on deck. Sailors were quick of step to stay out of his way.

But there were so many of them...Doris remained frozen, shocked to her core. She'd fought the werewolf easily enough; there was only one of them then, and they were no match for the highest of the food chain, the vampires. That was a decent enough explaination, but the huntress realized that D's aura of protection almost enfeebled her, made her that damsel in distress.

How was she to save Dan and the others if merely witnessing his power turned her courage to jelly; how was she to finally impress D and earn his respect when her teeth clamped in fear?

Again the dhampire swung his sword, decapitating another vampire. They crowded him now, realizing that their were strength in numbers and that the sailors were no threat compared to him. They seemed everywhere at once. Even with the ungodly skill that he possessed under such presecution even the supreme skills of the vampire hunter would fall prey to the talons of a vampire.

How many were aboard? Dozens?

That moment came. As three vampires crowded the hunter, another one took advantage of the distraction to stab at him from behind with a spear. D dove into the air, the afterimage of him a victim of the attack. The attacking vampire didn't know what hit him when the hunter came down. But neither did D, as another of the pack took the chance to drive a blade into his gut.

That finally propelled Doris into action. When she'd seen D pierced before when he'd been challenged and deceived by another hunter Doris had barely moved, paralyzed by the horror of the vampire hunter's defeat. He had seemed unbeatable before then. The concept of his death was so alien the huntress had collasped, taken by that very hunter who'd killed him.

She had been useless then. Not now. Not when D needed her.

Spinning her whip in the air, she lunged at the pack of vampires. Her own courage and beauty also inspired the sailors who took up arms against the wicked creatures. Doris barely felt the slight stunning wounds the vampires inflicted on her...all she could think about was to defend D. He crouched on the deck, blood pooling him like a rain of melted roses.

He's trying to get up, Doris realized. Even wounded the hunter remained unafraid.

Beautiful face set in determination, her whip cracked, slicing up the creatures. Long nails clawed at her, but the young woman ducked back, ebony locks swinging around her. Deathly skin sizzled as she slapped out her whip, spinning on her heeled boots. One vampire thought to encircle her as he had D, but fortunately for her a sailor got to him first.

In the span of fifteen minutes it was over, though, to Doris, it had felt like hours. After the last of the vampires had either perished or fled, the huntress sank to her knees by D's form. The blood had ceased (how exactly?) and D was severely injuried but it didn't appear a mortal wound. He was murmuring something, but she shushed him.

She craddled his head in her arms. "Rest, D, I'll keep you safe."


	7. Scene 7

Scene 7

He appeared as angel as he slept.

Or did he sleep? Did dhampires sleep? Did they dream? If they did, what did they dream of? Blood, death and darkness, as was theirs by birthright? Or did they perhaps dream of love and life and laughter, the sort of things they couldn't claim in the waking world?

This did Doris wonder as she sat on a stool by the dhampire's bedside. He appeared so peaceful with his eyes closed, hands folded together on his chest, hair splayed about him like a curtain of darkness. If she leaned over to kiss him, would he wake? Like a knight and sleeping beauty, only with the roles reversed...

He was definitely a beauty. It didn't matter how many times she stared at that exquisite face...never would the huntress ever relax. It sent a thrill through her blood and other places as well. A painter would despair, never being able to recreate his beauty with brush and inks. Nor could any bards sing enough to honor his power, nor any story written to ever explain just how otherworldly he was.

Then the protrait of perfection gave a little soft sound. A moan of pain.

Doris started. Somehow hearing that sound shattered the spell he held over her. He was not invincible, though often enough he appeared so. He had been injuried. He had been deceived. He had been killed even. And though he came back from it all, the young man carried the wounds of his years, even if such was not immediately apparent on his face.

She took one of his hands in hers. Maybe this was why D didn't like to have any see him sleep, or injuried, or emotionally impacted. D was a fortress, beautiful and strong. To let another see him anything less than perfect was to admit that he could be conquered by the swift sword of a vampire or...

...or the sweet kiss of a girl.

Doris fought back against the tears, thinking of how she'd easily let him protect her, take care of her. Thought back to when he'd fixed her fence, or milked her cows or any of the numerous things he'd done to help her around the farm. It wasn't enough for him to save her from a powerful vampire lord; the hunter had to run errands and do chores too!

It did make the young woman wonder why he'd bothered to. She hadn't asked him to and certainly not expected it. D spoke little, but did much, and never seemed to expect any kind of reward. Any kind of reward...

Doris's mind fluttered back to that night in the common room again when she'd asked him to take his reward. He appeared as if he might, but they'd been interrupted. Somehow staring at him now, vulnerable and tranquil, Doris thought that her affection for D had been as a child's love of a toy back then; a favorite toy, for sure, but without substance. Enarmored by his beauty, captivated by his strength, but what part of her really understood him?

Now, seeing him here, the young woman could feel how much more he had come to mean to her.

"Where are we headed?"

His eyes remained shut, but his smooth voice floated in the air. Doris very quietly released his hands and while the hunter made no sense to indicate he'd notice either that she'd held his hand or when she'd let him go, the young woman figured he probably knew. Little escaped the vampire hunter's notice.

"The Capitol. After we fought the vampires, the ship's captain was so grateful for our help that he offered to take us anywhere we wanted to go." Doris smiled and blushed, thinking back to when the ship's crew had surrounded her. It wasn't until the first mate offered her his coat that the huntress realized how scantily-clad she was in the nightgown. "I figured you wanted to go straight to the Capitol so he set a course there. He said it would take two days."

D nodded, eyes on the ceiling. Then they returned to her. "You may go."

Her lips twisted. You may go? That was it? She'd protected him, fought even when it frightened her to the marrow of her bones...and that was how he addressed her? Like some simple chambermaid who'd come by to put dinner on his tray?

Doris struggled to remain calm. Throwing a fit at his cold demeanor certainly wouldn't help the dhampire relax his guard any. If she ever hoped to peel away his layers and earn his trust and devotion, the young woman would have to be patient, diplomatic. She refused to just give up and go out, but there was a tactful way to keep him by her side. Or she by his.

"I should keep an eye on you. I don't want your wound getting infected."

"It won't." Curt. Cold. So very D.

She took a long breath. "You don't know that, D. We can't risk having that happen."

"I'll be fine. You may go." D's eyes shut and he lay his head back down on the pillow. Doris longed to rip that pillow out from under him but restrained the urge. She stood up to go, turning toward the door. D would never respond to kindness nor compassion; a dark shard stood in way of his heart, built in the darkness of his life.

Then Doris stopped, a smirk crossing her lips. Something else did get past that barrier.

"So when are you planning on collecting your reward?"

D said simply, "They will have the funds prepared for my return." His eyes didn't even open.

"Not that reward. The one of getting to do whatever you please to me."

Now the dhampire's eyes flew open, a brief flash of shock on them that Doris got to witness because she turned around just in time. Even D couldn't keep the breathless look that came over him at the mention of that. She was fully dressed at this point in her silk shirt, corset and leather trousers but Doris knew that the dhampire could accurately imagine her completely disrobed, all her pale virgin charm on display for him.

"'Cause, you know, once you're up and about we could see to that."

D sat up, peering at her cautiously, the wonder evaporating instantly. He was master of himself once more, donning the cloak of coldness he was so famous for. "That won't be necessary," was all he said.

"Are you sure...because I owe it to you." Approaching his bedside again at a slow, steady pace, the huntress smiled sweetly. D might be able to pretend he didn't care but he couldn't pretend that he didn't desire her. Doris had seen enough often the look of lust from men. None could ever hold a candle to D, though and the young woman hadn't bothered to let any try.

"In fact, you're probably strong enough to take your prize right now." She was barely an arm's length from him now. If the she leaned over Doris could give the hunter an ample view of her considerable cleavage.

His sudden chill halted her. "Leave, Doris."

She frowned. "Why, D? Why don't you take me? You were going to do so before."

D's lips opened to speak then he stopped. Then he opened them again. "No, Doris, I wasn't going to. Now please go."

A snort issued from somewhere around the hunter's left hip but Doris dismissed it, thinking it in her head. "Don't lie to me, D! You were all ready to go when the crowd came." Planting one boot on the stool she'd sat on mere moments ago, Doris stared him straight in the eye, struggling against the miasma he'd summoned around himself. "Come on D, claim your prize."

A chuckle now, one swiftly smothered as the vampire hunter clenched his left fist.

"What do you take me for?"

The sharpness of D's response shook Doris right to the core of her being. The undisguised emotion, that of anger and disgust, was as a lightning bolt to her spine.

"What do you take me for?" he asked again, softer. "One of those drifters you spoke of? Is that what they are capable of? To avail themselves of a woman who enslaved herself for no other reason than to be free of a worst captivity?"

Doris didn't answer and D didn't seem to expect, or want, one. "Is that the kind of man you think of me as? Without honor? Just a dhampire willing to take whatever pleasures he may simply because of the advantage he holds?"

A lump seemed stuck in the huntress's throat for she spoke huskily. "No, D, I know you're a man of honor; I've known since the moment I've met you. I told you this! I didn't mean..." Her voice broke off as she choked off a sob. The vampire hunter had already more than adequately put her selfish anger in its place; she need not appear as a waif again, bawling simply because the man she desired turned her away.

"Get out." Again that sharpness to slice through her rage and sorrow. "Leave right now."

The young woman didn't need any further prodding. Ashamed of her anger, disgusted at her own blatant and unsuccessful attempts to seduce D, she fled out the room as quickly and as quietly as she was able.

Outside of D's room tears spilled down her cheeks. Doris didn't care. All she cared was to be away from D and his wintry gaze. Instead of understanding him further or drawing him closer to her, the huntress seemed to drive him deeper into himself, perhaps beyond ever bringing the light back into his eyes.

She cried into the wee hours of dawn.


	8. Scene 8

Scene 8

"So much for being a softy."

D didn't respond. Hardly news, that.

"You were so cold to Doris, turning her down like that. Why not keep her close? You know she'd give you all you'd want and more..." Leftie was poking him now, trying to provoke a response. But the dhampire seemed to determined to remain non-conversational.

"You know I can tell when she's getting to you. In fact, when she leaned over and gave you a view of the goods, I couldn't tell what throbbed more...Your fangs or your-"

D twisted his fingers together. "You're out of line."

A chuckle emanted from the clenched fist as the countenanced carbuncle struggled to be given freedom to speak. His words floated out. "Oh, hit a nerve...did I?"

The dark-haired dhampire stood at the prow of the ship, right hand on the railing. His long ebony cloak billowed out behind him as the ship slid through the waters. How his hat did not whip off his head remained a mystery. He'd spent the better part of an hour staring out into the ocean, the vampire hunter's eyes so stunning that it seemed even the endless body of water would be spellbound by him.

Perhaps the vampire hunter was distracted for he released his fist and Leftie took his opportunity to continue to torment his host. "Don't like hearing that, do you? Don't like being compared to...Him? What, because of your mother? Or the others that submitted to his will?"

D's brow knit together slightly. Even a lesser dragon seeing that might drop dead from the sheer fright. The miasma that encircled the dhampire could fell mutants of the highest genetic make-up, but Leftie appeared immune to it. Speaking softly, D repiled, "I can't accept Doris on those terms. She came to me to settle a debt, but I won't dishonor her by taking it."

More chuckles issued from the symbiont. "Oh, please, you dress up this excuse of turning her down to seem honorable but the truth is she got you scared shitless. You're not afraid of hurting her...you're afraid of hurting you." The next few words flew out mired in amusment, but a high note of almost hysterical fear could be heard in them. "You're not in love with her, are you?"

Turning on his heel the vampire hunter clenched his fist tightly enough to dig his nails into the palm of his left hand. All around him the sailors stared at him as he went, some stopping in mid-task. A mooring line was left unattended while the attendants of the crow's nest almost fell out trying to snatch a glimpse of him.

Disppearing down the hold, D sought out the captain. Ten kids and nearly a whole town depended on him. If the attack on the Port of Nubarol was any indication the forces arrayed against him were nothing to sneeze at. The thought of getting back into the action was a calm splash of water, setting his nerves on fire at the same time it stilled his mind which threatened to be overwhelmed by...her.

And who should be there with the Captain but Doris? The young woman displayed none of the teasing sensuality or childish anger she had earlier. Oh, she was still a beauty of all beauties, but now she glanced up at D with a small smile, eyes dropping back to the map pinned by little rocks on a table before her.

A snowy-bearded, powerfully-built man, the Captain stood up from his chair and smiled a smile to split his face. "The vampire hunter D...a guest on my ship!" His hand came down so hard on D's back that a lesser man would have been bowled over it. "Shouldn't take too much longer before we arrive at the Port of Azarvin. After that, the Capitol is just a few days ride from there."

D put his back to the room's wall, head bowed as he mulled that over. "Can we buy cybernetic horses there?"

The Captain guffawed. "But of course! The port is a stopping point for many looking to visit the Capitol so they'll have any breed you fancy."

"Have you heard of any cult of vampires in the city?" D's voice fluttered out from under his fedora.

A man of extreme joviality, that joy bled out of his face at the mention of vampires. The mention of the Nobility struck fear in even the stoutest hearts and talk of a group of them only compounded that fear. The Captain coughed. "No, I haven't, but you can check out the Singing Siren, one of the bars on their main street, to see if any the patrons have." He grunted. "Though, if you ask me, you don't go looking for them damn vampires and hope they don't go looking for you."

Then the Capatin fell silent. It occured to him that the man before him both shed and shared the blood of vampires. He took a step back, repelled.

Doris looked up from the map. "I think there's a shortcut we can take the Capitol." Her voice was collected, as if they'd not argued earlier.

"We'll see what path we'll take when we make landfall," is all D said as he left the cabin. Doris didn't follow, didn't argue with him. She was was not subdued, but she seemed to have enough sense not to press him. Stepping up the stairway back up to deck, the dhampire appeared into the light just in time to feel the ship quake like it was hit by a glacier.

"What's happened, mates?" demanded the Captain as followed D on deck. Doris was hot on his heels, gripping the mooring line as the ship shook violently again. "Have we run aground?"

D could see the huntress out the corner of his eye as she rushed over to the railing. Hands grasping the railing tightly, she twirled her head around to stare at D, black tresses swirling around dramatically. "There's...there's something in the water!"

No sooner had the young woman declared that then a huge tentacle burst out of the ocean, water spraying all over deck. Sailors scurried around, grasping anything they could to serve as a weapon. Spears spun in the air, most of them way off the mark. The Captain barked orders to his crew, commanding them to remain calm and fight the beast in a coordinated attack.

A laser beam cut through the tentacle, sending it back into the water with a splash.

D glanced over at Doris. She held the laser gun in her arms, drenched in the water that the beast had doused the deck with. Their gaze met and held for the briefest of heartbeats.

Then D was in the air, his crescent-shaped sword leading the way in a silvery flash.

Coming down on a tentacle, the dhampire slid down it, blade slitting it all the way to the flesh that connected it to the body. A tentacle swept down to ensare him but D was not there, the shimmer of his former presence an unsatisfactory trophy to the beast. It was a geneticly-engineered kraken, the sort of creature that the vampires birthed to expand their own empire.

Again the dhampire dove in the air, water showering him, yet seeming not to touch him. He made death beautiful, made those who faced it long for it, beg for it, just so they could feel his blade in their breast. But this beast was without thought, without the ability to appreciate beauty. Its huge mouth gaped open as if suck D right in.

D lived for this moment. He lived for the moment of near-death, for any moment his blade met skin. And it did, again and again, as it pierced another of the kraken's tentacles. Again the dhampire slid down the tentacle, then bounced off as another tentacle came to swipe him off. His blade cut off two of the tentacles in one blow, showering the deck with more than water now. Inky blood poured on deck, yet did not leave a drop on the stunning hunter.

Then a tentacle wrapped around D's chest. That wouldn't have stopped him had he not been focused on keeping the creature's attention on himself. A single slash of his sword would free him, but the dhampire couldn't connect because he was suddenly immersed in the water. The tentacle had dove underwater taking D with it.

Darkness drowned D, wrapping him as surely as the tentacle did. Had he erred? Had his attention wavered just long enough to be defeated? More tentacles slammed into him, seeming intent on driving him deeper undwater. In the rain a dhampire's strength dropped by thirty percent and a few degrees of temparture fell with it. That reduced a half-blood's effectiveness significantly. How much more disabled was a dhampire who was completely buried alive in water?

As if a beam of dark light, D burst out the water, slashing with his blade at the tentacle that yet held him. How had he escaped the watery death? The crew cheered as they saw his dark form spinning the air. He was a mystic bird, seeming to stop time with just how magnificient he was. With a single swipe of his sword the tentacle that clutched him fell apart. With a second swipe, another fell.

Then backflipping the dhampire landed on the head of the monster and drove his blade deep into its skull.

A deafening cheer went up as the vampire hunter dropped lightly onto deck. Behind him the monster sank into the ocean, long tentacles sending up pillars of water as they fell. It was the perfect ending to the whole vicious symphony: D with his blade in a figure eight stance as he stood before them all, water cascanding around him like a celeberation to mark his victory.

In an instant Doris was hugging him tightly and he did not resist. "I was so worried for you."

D lowered his sword and brought his other hand around to pull her close to him. The scent of her hair was intoxicating. His nose drank of it deeply. "It's alright. I'm alright." His hand came up to stroke her hair comfortingly. "It's all over now. We're safe."

It was a long time before the crew disturbed them, and D was grateful for it. He knew the symbiont would torment him mercilessly about it later, but, for now, he could just melt into the moment.

A voice from around his waist said, only loud enough for him to hear: "And now the softy's back."


	9. Scene 9

Scene 9

D was quite the handy-man.

As they sailed towards Azarvin the vampire hunter didn't stay idle, rather he was out and about among the sailors, helping repair the deck, pulling in the lines and generally making himself useful. Doris gaped at him as she had when he was fixing her fence and milking her cows. The dhampire appeared the most ill-equipped for such menial tasks, yet took to them with, while not a relish, certainly a subdued satisfaction.

Not for the first, and not for the last, Doris wondered what his family was like.

D didn't talk about himself on that trip. He barely talked at all. While his gaze upon the huntress wasn't cold, it wasn't warm either, which she took as a good thing. After their heated discussion in his cabin a few days back she'd feared the dhampire would shut down completely, but instead he remained more aloof than angry, more distant than disdainful.

He had much to be distracted about. So had she.

Doris did everything she could to help him, holding and carrying items, running errands and messages. How she longed to just lift her hand up to touch his hair, his cheek, his shoulder...just to feel further connected to him. But she knew he was not the sort to give way easily, if at all. She would have to bide her time or just acknowledge the futility of it all.

It was a bleak thought. Just as bleak as her fear of never seeing Dan again.

"Land!" came from the crow's nest.

Doris rushed to the railing, completely abandoning the rope she'd been knotting. Her large eyes took in the port-city of Azarvin, estactic to find themselves within civilization again. As much the huntress enjoyed seafaring, her heart really was with the land. And with finding her brother and the other children.

D was suddenly by her side. He didn't touch her, didn't look at her, but seemed to address her as he said, "We stay overnight in the city to learn what we can then head straight to the Capitol." Then he was gone again as if he were never there.

The young woman didn't move from her stance until the Captain called all hands to bring the ship to port.

She longed for nothing so much as a bath. You couldn't get a decent one on the ship, especially not with all those sailors sneaking lusty glances. It was like they hadn't seen a woman before! Truth was they hadn't seen a woman in a while and Doris knew that men were pleased by her appearance. Of course they didn't garner so much as a smile from her. Her smiles were for one person, and one person only...

And that one person was sitting on the bed in the hotel room they'd rented, legs crossed at the ankles, head braced back against the headboard, eyes shut. She thought briefly she should let him know her intentions in case he wanted to use the bathroom first, but the huntress laughed at her silliness. D would have little use for a big bowl of water.

How did vampires stay clean? D certainly didn't smell unpleasant except for the small scent of blood that clung to him no matter how long it had been since he'd last tasted it. That with the steel, and the leather and the road. If anything it was enticing, masculine enough to set a heart to stirring, while maintaining just a dash of softness to intrigue.

She couldn't say the same. She reeked.

Slipping into the bathroom like she slipped out of her clothes, Doris took in a deep breath as she turned the facet and water poured out. It was a glorious, comforting sound and once the tub was filled the huntress gleefully lowered herself within.

Every cell in her soul seemed to sing at the wonderful feeling of being immersed in the water. Happily she scrubbed the dirt and grme away with a washcloth. She was hardly a girly-girl, but there were some pleasures that no woman could resist, and this was one of hers. She dunked her head to clean her hair, water closing in over her.

The image of D dragged under flashed through her mind.

With a gasp Doris sprang up. The thought of the dhampire perishing was too great a torment to bear. Even with how much the hunter treasured that cold demeanor the idea of him being taken from this world, from her, stuck a lump in her throat. For a horrifying moment there the huntress had feared him dead.

It didn't matter in what capacity she would have him in her life. She didn't want D away ever again. If he coudln't return her affection, she would accept it. She would love him, support him, stay by his side. She would stop playing her silly childish games with him, and give him the kind of respecful, tranquil companionship the dhampire appeared to desire.

Quietly rising from her bath, the young woman dried herself with a towel then dressed in a nightgown. She tip-toed out to the main room and peered at D. And seeing what he was doing drew a little gasp out of her.

In the dhampire's right hand was his sapphire pendant, which, upon closer examination, Doris realized was a locket. Inside was a picture of a beautiful dark-haired woman. He stared at it, a churning of stormy emotions upon his face so plain to see and so surprising for him as to make her gasp again, louder this time.

D finally noted her presence, quickly snapping it shut and stuffing it down his shirt.

Doris climbed onto the bed and said, "Who is she?"

D's eyes slid over to her, something unreadable in them. "No one."

"D..." Her hand lightly graced his shoulder. "Is she someone dear to you?" A small tinge of jealously sparked in her blood but the huntress contained it. Whoever the woman was, she quite clearly significant to him, and letting even a hint of her discontent show would only make him clam up.

"My mother."

Though the dhampire spoke deadpanned, Doris seemed something dark swirl inside of him. Anger. Sorrow. Desperate love and desperate pain. Like a man scorned, but not quite, she knew. It was something deeper, something so agonizing that even acknowleding its truth was obviously something D was not prepared to do.

D swept his legs off the bed. Before he could stand Doris rushed over to wrap her arms around waist. He tensed, but didn't push her away. She could faintly hear chuckling but it seemed to come from around his hip, which made no sense. Certainly the dhampire didn't appear amused, as he was still as a board in her grasp, fighting something she could not see.

His left fist clenched, but everywhere else relaxed. Doris pressed her advantage to press her cheek against his back. There wasn't a hint of sexuality to it; the young woman only wanted to offer comfort for what appeared to be a deep wound. Maybe D realized that, for he seemed to take the tender moment for what it was.

Shocking Doris even more, the dhampire brought his legs back to the bed and slid down on the sheets, taking her with him. Not once did the hunter turn around but remained on his side and in her embrace. Doris again took this as a good sign and resisted the urge to pull him over to face her. She longed nothing so much at that moment than to give him a gentle kiss on the cheek and tell him everything would be alright.

Somehow she knew it was the quiet companionship, silent support he needed right now.

Doris had thought she would wait until he slept before taking rest herself but soon she was slumbering, her arms around D still.


	10. Scene 10

Scene 10

They were on the road again.

Hands firmly around the reins D could still hear his symbiont laughing, cutting and mocking. Doris was a good distance behind, the dhampire's superior strength and horsemanship outpacing her easily. It might appear that he barely gave her a breath but the hunter could extend the stride of his steed more and leave the woman entirely in his dust on the plains.

But much to his own chagrin, the dhampire found he liked having her around. Liked it a lot.

Wouldn't say love, not yet, maybe not ever.

D kept his gaze ahead, peering at the smog westward from the Capitol. It would probably be another day or two of hard riding. A day if he was alone, two if he had Doris with him. Of course sending her back wasn't an option right about now. She might get back on her just fine, probably would, but she wouldn't have that. And, truthfully, neither would he.

In fact, the dhampire checked his steed's stride just a tad to let her catch up to him. When the young woman reached him, D said, deadpanned, "We'll have to make camp somewhere. Let's go on for another hour or so then we'll stop." Then the hunter was off again, his long flowing cloak and dark hair trailing behind like a stream of ebony ribbons.

To leave her in his wake as he longed to leave the feelings she inspired in him. D didn't have the time to contemplate them, however as his keen eyes caught another dark form in the distance. Out came his long sword in a flash as if it just magically appeared in his upturned hand. His silver spurs lightly graced his horse's flanks but it burst forward as if energy crossed through his ankles into it.

More vampires. A dozen, maybe more. Where were they all coming from?

When the steed was still some distance away D bolted from the saddle like a spear of darkness. He tore into the mounds of vampires, sword spinning. Where Doris was at that moment mattered not at all to the dhampire, consumed by the killing lust of both a hunter and of Noble blood. Claws swung his way, scoring not a single hit.

D was death incarnate.

One of the creatures of the night took a swipe at him, but D slashed out with his blade and it fell apart, upper body one way and the lower body another. Another leapt at him from the side and ended up a sorry mess on the grass. The hunter spun and ducked, hair flying out like a river of crystal darkness, hat remaining on his head all the while.

From the corner of his eye the dhampire saw Doris join the fray without a word of complaint, her whip whirling around and around. She worked her way to him in the middle of the sea of dripping fangs and claws. Back to back the two fought like some well-oiled engine, fully in tune with the other's moves as if they had hunted together for years, not been in each other's presence for a few days.

D bent down to cut a vampire down to size. Before it's body hit the grass its head was off his shoulders taken from them by a single clean slash. Another vampire met its fate in a similiar fashion. While the dhampire hardly needed the help, Doris held her own, a vampire torn apart into large gray matter with her whip.

There was something peculiar about some of the vampires...they appeared as child-like dolls, immitations of real humans, as if they'd never grown into their own. Among them were the fully-grown Nobles, but even those too seemed diminished somehow. It wasn't until Doris gave a loud gasp that he read the reason off her face as easily heard the words from her lips.

"The children, D!" She stumbled back as if physically struck, though none of the vampires had hit her. "It's them! We can't hurt them! We can't!"

Like the time she was zombified by Count Magnus Lee the young woman encircled his arm, impairing his movements. D gave something that was not quite a snarl, but certainly a sound of annoyance. Though he thought to hurl her aside Doris hung on, drawing his sword-arm back. With a little real force she wouldn't be able to stop him but it was what she said, anguished, that stayed his hand.

"D, it's...it's Dan!"

A ten year old boy approached. Dark hair, bright eyes, big cheeks. There could be no denying the truth of it. Nor denying the truth of the veins of blood in those eyes, the stains upon the cheeks or how matted the hair was. No denying that the Noble had taken him and if he wasn't lost yet, he soon would be.

Would it be kinder to just slay him now? D's sword rose as of its own accord. In his mind's eyes was the image he'd had back in the tavern, that of the body of a child at his feet, the life dimming from its eyes...

"No!" screamed Doris, and dragged his arm back down again. She grasped so desperately at his cloak that the dhampire had to look at her, to peer into her lumious, tortured eyes. "We must find who changed him and kill them. We need to save Dan!"

Though one would scarely ever say the hunter had an ill grace it was without his usual calm demeanor that he commanded, "Get on your horse."

"My...horse..."

To the huntress's stammered reply D glanced over a shoulder. Doris's horse was nowhere to be seen. His own stamped and snorted nearby. Because of his supernatural aura his steed stuck around, bedazzled by him. But Doris's had no such compulsion and took off when confronted by the vampires.

His brow furrowed just the slightest D said, agitated, "Get on my horse." Then with a strong arm he almost launched her up the saddle, not even looking to see if she got on as he bisected another of the creatures of the night. The dhampire took care to avoid cutting down the children, considering them less of a threat anyways.

Then in a single bound the dhampire was up in the saddle, seated behind Doris. He clucked his tongue and the cybersteed gladly fled westward. D wrapped a single arm around the young woman, startling her. With the speeds he was urging the horse to, Doris could fall off, and while a strong fighter on her own couldn't possibly slay all those vampires.

Nor would she. Doris might rather die than harm her brother, no matter what his state.

The pseudo-Nobles pursued, closing on them. "Take the reins," D said, passing them over to Doris. She took them without complaint, her eyes on the road. His sword swung out, keeping them at bay. His arm never left her waist, even as the dhampire laid a number of vampires low. Again his blade avoided the children, not wanting to hit one by accident.

Would Doris ever forgive him for killing Dan, if it came to that?

At last they reached their destination, a fast-flowing river. Both D and Doris glanced back in unison at the Nobles as they rushed towards them. The diameter was too large to jump over and it extended so far as to make running along it a liability. At his command, the young woman halted the horse just a few steps from the rocks. Then D stood up on the horse, his sword swinging from one side to the other. This forced the creatures back, affording them enough of a pause to enact his plan.

Dropping back on the steed, his arm back around her, D said, "Take a deep breath." Then he took one of his own and bid his horse into the river.

Doris didn't scream, not like he expected her to. She did shake in his embrace, but maintained her composure even as they plunged in the water. Air bubbles slipped from her lips as she dangerously depleted her oxygen. Neither D nor the horse had any need of air; the horse was mechanical while the dhampire didn't breathe. So when the dhampire swallowed down some air it wasn't for him.

The horse galloped along the bottom of the river, aiming for the other side. D knew the vampires woudln't follow them in, and while his own combat skills nearly flat-lined so immersed, with them away it wouldn't be necessary. But no matter Doris's amazing constitution she was fading under the water, desperate for air. His sword returned to his sheath.

With a gloved hand D turned Doris face to him. In her eyes was terror, but also trust.

With his mouth to her's the dhampire breathed life into her.

That was why he'd taken his own deep breath. As his lungs contracted from the loss of oxygen her's expanded, restoring her strength. They were almost to the other side now, so D wordlessly commanded his steed to the surface. With a splash of water they broke, water streaming behind them as the two arrived on pebbles of the river. Vampires howled at them, frustrated, made futile.

Their lips seperated.

The darkness of the smog from the city seemed to infest D's heart as Doris turned away to face the road ahead, not saying anything. Had he offended her? Did she not see he had done that to save them, to save her? The dhampire had kept them alive even while avoiding killing her brother and the other children.

She had seemed so enamored before. What was different now?

Neither said anything as they rode on, the dark cloud coming ever closer.


	11. Scene 11

Scene 11

The Capitol was just like D: mysterious, beautiful and dangerous.

Entering the city Doris was captivated by the intricate layers of highways, the stunning edifices of crystal metalwork and the enormous skyscrapers reaching seemingly to outerspace. Possibly they did, as the city was ancient, dating back before the Noble's rise. The Nobles made the streets and buildings their tapestry to design, leaving it a radiant wreck upon their apparent departure.

Apparent because the vampire cult was here, somewhere.

D had confirmed this by subtly asking around, inquiring with just the right folks. None openly admitted it, but in the black markets where such information could be bought with enough dalas, there were whispered rumours of a cult queen. A witch-Noble of amazing influence and power. And conveniently one who was holding a masquerade ball the next night.

They had holed up in a small inn, hoping to avoid attention. With his imposing figure and unintentional charisma, the dhampire garnered them two invitations. Meanwhile Doris purchased outfits appropriate for such a party for them to wear, along with two masks. It was the perfect opportunity to sneak in, confront the Noble, and find out what had happened to Dan and the others.

Too perfect, in fact.

D was tying up her corset from behind. Though air flew out of her lips at each tug the young woman didn't complain, just glad to have him near. He had offered to suit her up without her asking, which stunned the huntress. His supple fingers worked the lace expertly. Within minutes the dhampire finished, lingering behind her.

"D?"

He gave a soft throaty sound that indicated he'd heard and encouraged her to go on.

"We're going into a den of Nobles and we could both die."

A silence settled between them.

Doris continued, "I want you to know something in case that should happen."

With a sigh, she turned around, gorgeous crimson dress swirling about her. D was even more dashing than before, adorned in a splendid black suit with ruffles at the wrists and a fine silk scarf at his neck. Jewels shined at every hem like his eyes that shined from under the shadow of his fedora. She fiddled at the string of pearls at her neck.

"I need you to know that..." She sighed again. "When I first offered myself to you on the road, I did it to pay you as I had little money. I'd rather lose my virginity..." Doris stopped, blushed, then went on, "...than lose my soul."

"I know," D said simply, softly.

"What you don't know...," Doris hurriedly added, seeing the shadow flicker over his face. "...is that when I offered myself to you in my living room, I did it because..."

"...because I love you."

Lips that conveyed the iron strength of his will twisted just a bit as D turned away to face the window. He tilted his head back, hair fluttering down. "Doris, we shouldn't talk about this."

Doris slipped back into his field of vision. "I know what you're thinking. Because of all the stuff you've been through, and seen and done, that you can't know love." Just as the dhampire appeared ready to cut in, she continued, "But I need you to know that love can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime. And...and I don't think you can deny that...what's happening, you know?"

A new emotion flickered across the hunter's elegant face. No, the dhampire couldn't deny it. She heard it in the way his breath caught in his throat as he looked at her, in the way his stance stiffened as she drew near. In all the miraculous, incredulous moments that would appear too subtle to matter from another man, but from D it shouted it from rooftops.

"Yes, I know." There was that hitch in his otherwise immaculate voice.

Something in the way he held himself told the huntress not to touch him, that the ice around them at this moment was still too thick. But Doris would be damned before she let this moment slip between her fingers, as had that moment on their couch. She smiled as she spoke, investing every bit of encouragement into each word she could manage, "Then what's to stop us? I think this could be really great."

"This would never work."

"What?" Her smile faded. "Why?"

D crossed his arms casually in front of his chest, appearing to gauge how exactly to explain what was floating around in his head. "You know I have Noble blood in my veins. I know you don't care what that means, but I do, Doris. I know that it would be...it would be amazing, for a time. Then I'd watch you grow old and die, while I not age a day." Again that slight deviation from his perfect voice. "Not again. I will not experience that again."

Doris was not certain she was meant to hear those last few words, and the guarded shadow on the dhampire's visage certainly showed not. But the huntress had to press on, feeling that nothing could stand in their way. Now that she was certain of his love of her, the very thought that such still did not matter...it felt like a shard of cruelty jabbed into her heart, shattering it utterly. Here he was all but telling her he loved her, but that it was not meant to be.

"No!" she shouted, dress billowing as she gestured, animated. "No," Doris said again, softer. "We shouldn't let that stop us, D. We could find a way...maybe..." A thought darted into her head, something so terrifying the young woman shuddered at it. But her shoulders straightened, determined. "I would do anything to be with you, anything, D..."

The slight narrowing of his beautiful eyes exhibited his displeasure. "No, Doris. Don't even think it. I would never allow it. She..." D appeared to catch himself and instead said, "Put it out of your mind. Put this entire conversation out of your mind. We have a job to do."

"She..." That word floated out of the huntress's mouth in wonderment. Who did D mean? Then in a moment of clarity Doris recalled D on the bed, holding a locket of his mother tightly in his fingers. Those eyes so full of pain, so full of frustration. He was half-human, his father...well, that was the world's worst kept secret, so that meant his mother was human.

And he'd lost her.

"I see you understand. Do not bring this up again, Doris." Extending an arm in the customary fashion of a gentleman escorting a lady to dinner, D added, "It is time."

The sharp steeliness of his mouth and eyes brokered no argument. Holding back her tears, Doris took his arm and strode with him out the door.

The Nobles waited for them.


	12. Scene 12

Scene 12

Leaves made slight scraping sounds as they fluttered away when their carriage came to a stop. Appearing through the fog, the cult leader's mansion stood as an ominous edifice as any that one could call up from a child's nightmare. Birds fluttered up to the parapets. Bats circled battlements. Sounds floated out from the windows, laughter and dancing and things better left unsaid.

D exited the carrriage, extending an arm to Doris to help her down. She was singularly stunning this evening in a long red gown and with her glorious hair. As she stood staring at the building, the dhampire paid their driver, giving him a generous bag of dalas to leave the carriage there. Now that D knew the way here, he had no need of anyone to show him back to the Inn. His photographic memory engraved even the smallest detail into his mind.

Like every curve of Doris's body, and the glimmer in her dark eyes.

Dozens of beautifully dressed vampires and their slaves entered the mansion. Among them mingled what appeared diplomats, politicians, lawyers and other high profile persons. Humans or vampires? Who could tell? What anyone could tell was that they were all gorgeous, powerful and intelligent beings out for a night of fun.

Wordlessly D and Doris followed, arm in arm. A chubby little butler took their invitations, eyes bulging as they undressed Doris in his mind. Or was it D that he envisioned naked? Possibly both. D guided the young huntress into the main foyer where other guests had begun to gather, splitting into little groups for chit-chatter. The dhampire eyed the room for signs of the rumoured cult-queen but none of those gathered appeared so grand.

As they waited D watched Doris from the corner of his eye. She appeared fascinated by the grand hall, drinking in all the sights and sounds. Despite how the dhampire shot her down once again merely two hours ago, the huntress appeared unfazed, inconquerable. Her resilence invigorated him, fascinated him as surely as the bright chandlier caught her gaze and held it.

A soft chime sounded, calling all into the dining hall. Twice as vast and magnificent as the main foyer, the dining hall sported gorgeous tapestries, a long oak dining table and beautiful plants of myraid colors. One hand pulling Doris into the room with him and the other drifting at his side ready to slip the crescent-shaped blade out from under his cloak at any minute, D entered.

Though none dared approach the pair, many were there that whispered about them, gestured with eyes and chins. D ignored them and bid Doris do as well. All around them the gathered crowd either took to mingling or dancing, hems soaring and hair fluttering. Others still sat upon the dining table, partaking of the glorious feast assembled before them. Nobles had no need to eat, D well knew, but they enjoyed the feeling something sliding down their throats as they envisioned blood would be doing so soon.

"May I dance at least?" Doris asked him. Her doe-like eyes melted his resolve.

"Very well, but be on the look-out."

When Doris was swept away in the crowd, her own gown and hair swirling like a mixture of bright blood and deepest night, D could feel Leftie squirming. Normally the dhampire abhored giving the symbiont any quarter but tonight he felt a bit nervous, the kind of emotion he was not accustomed to. Of course, the vampire hunter normally didn't march so brazeningly into a whole den of Nobles every night. But even that wouldn't make his eyes twitch.

And it was Leftie who gave words to the fear polluting his heart. "You're thinking the same thing I am. That she's here. That she's not what you hope her to be. That she's-"

"It doesn't matter. It's probably not even her. And even if it is..."

"You'll cut her down like anyone else?" Was Leftie aghast? He certainly sounded such.

D didn't have an opportunity to answer for a sudden hush descended upon the entire hall. Everyone stopped dancing, some in mid-step. Food remained in mouths, unchewed. Sentences floated in the air, unfinished. Tipping his hat up and his mask slightly down the vampire hunter could see who it was that drew such singular attention.

A woman of unparalleled beauty and presence stepped within the hall, dressed in a white gown bejewelled and glittering. Her hair, coifed and piled high upon her head like a halo of darkness, held a crown and in her hand was a sceptor. She was attended by a hunch-back man who cast his gaze upon everyone, suspicious.

"Well, speak of the Devil..." Leftie gapped, dumbfounded. But not so stunned as D himself, who simply did not move even as the rest of the crowd rushed forward towards the woman. His lips tried to move, but no sound poured forth. Doris, escaping the crowd, was at his side in a moment.

She took his hand and so startled was he that D didn't admoish her for it. "What is it, D?"

His eyes never leaving the woman, the vampire hunter uttered, "I know her."

Doing a double take at D and at the beauty who'd entered, Doris pressed, "Who is she?"

Still staring at black-haired lady, the dhampire said, "Doris, follow that man." He pointed at the hunch-back who'd, after giving everyone a glare, hurried back into one of the many doors of the hall. "He may know where the children are. If you find them, get them to the carriage and get out of here."

The huntress pulled on his cape so hard D was forced too look upon her. Fear did not gleam in her eyes, but something akin to anxiety. "D, tell me who that woman is. And don't even think that I'm leaving without you, with or without the kids." She stomped her foot when it appeared the dhampire opened his mouth to rebuke her.

Finally D relented with a long-suffering sigh. "Then if you can, find the children and get them to the carriage. I will come as soon as I can. But if you find that waiting for me will endanger the children, promise me you will leave without me." Pulling the young woman into his arms, the dhampire laid his lips on her forehead for the span of a breath. "Please, Doris, I trust you to do this."

Swallowing, the huntress nodded. Before the dhampire could stop her, she kissed him hard on the mouth. It felt like the sweetest air he'd ever breathed, the softest breeze to grace his skin. And while he thought he hadn't wanted it, it ended all too soon.

Then Doris vanished into the crowd. And he was likely to die and never longed so much for the chance to dance with her.

"You're one big tragedy, you know that, D?" D didn't answer and Leftie went on, seemingly annoyed and frightened at the same time. "So what are you going to do about her?" The symbiont lifted himself (and D's arm) to gesture towards the black-haired woman now seated at the head of the table, giving a speech. Every mannerism, every movement, every hair upon her head screamed familiarity to the dhampire, cutting deep into his heart.

"So, she is."

"What are you going to do?"

The crescent-shaped sword made a magical sound as it departed his sheath.

"What I do best." Blade beared, D approached.


	13. Scene 13

Scene 13

Doris had to hurry to keep up with the hunch-back man. One look at his pale-skinned, red-eyed face confirmed her suspicions; he was a vampire. As such she had to be swift, discarding her crimson dress in favor of the outercorset, silk shirt and hunting skirt underneath. Out came the whip too, clutched in a trembling hand.

The huntress did not fear for her fate as she took the twists and turns the Noble unintentionally led her through. Deep in the bowels of the mansion they descended, an example of the deary, dripping dungeon that was the classic of every horror story. Keys clinked together, clasped in his aged hand.

No, it was not for her that Doris worried over. It was for D who faced a Noble who appeared to be extremely powerful, and one that looked like his mother to boot. She recalled the locket the dhampire bore, with a woman in a white dress and dark hair, just like that one above. Doris didn't like to consider what that could mean, and she feared that the vampire hunter was stepping straight into a trap.

And for the children, the ten kids spirited away from the villagers. And for Dan. Strong and courageous as the boy was, even he had to be terrified, imprisoned by a mob of vampires. These thoughts straightened the young woman's spine even as she delved further into the catacombs of the mansion, with barely moonlight to guide her steps.

The vampire had not brought any torch or candle with him, able to see impeccably in the dark. So she had to trust her own instincts and a hand to guide her along the wall. Several times Doris slipped and fell, cutting herself in numerous places on the jagged flooring. Did blood ooze from her wounds? The element of surprise was her only advantage and she risked losing that now too.

Finally the vampire came to a stop before a single dungeon cell. Out from between the bars peered a few children, frightened and worn. Doris held her breath as she saw Dan rise from the floor and rush the bars. He, too, shook in fear but clamped his teeth together. The boy snarled, "You again! What do you want?"

"It is time, my little ones." The vampire had a voice to match his face, hideous and intimidating. "But I cannot send you to your deaths without tasting at least one drop of your sweet blood..." Out flashed his hand, ensaring Dan between the bars. The boy fought with him, but he might as well tried to fell a fire dragon. "Just stay still and this won't hurt as much."

Doris burst into action, sending her whip spinning. Despite the speed in which the huntress flew into action the Noble was quicker. He turned in around in an instant, grabbing her weapon-arm. The cold spread throughout Doris's body like a rapid poison, weakening her. She kicked out, but the Noble twisted her arm, knocking the whip out of her grip to mere inches from the cell.

As she struggled in his arms, the vampire grinned. "I knew you were following me. Even if you had not made such noise to wake the dead..." Here he laughed, exposing rotting teeth. "...I could easily smell your spilt blood. And now that I have you my pretty, I want to taste that sweet blood. But first I would taste something else..."

A hand slipped down the huntress's shirt. Screaming Doris fought, fear fueling her heart to pound. She feared for Dan, for the other children and for D. But now the huntress mainly feared for herself realizing with a coldness to her core what this Noble meant for her. She felt her head explode in pain as the vampire thrust her to the floor, towering over her, abandoning her breasts for her skirt, pushing it up to give him a good view of her panties.

"You've not a had a man, have you, my pretty?" The vampire's breath reeked of blood as he brought his face to hers. "Not even that beautiful hunter who came with you, hmm? Yes, I saw you come in, and I saw you dance. I knew I had to have you." His hand climbed up her thigh. "First I shall take you as a living women then as my undead bride."

The huntress couldn't keep the second scream in her throat, the very thought of this Noble taking both her soul and her virginity shredding into her sanity. In her mind's eye she saw Count Magnus Lee as he pierced her neck with his fangs, whispering of making her his very soon. D had saved her then, destoried the vampire before he was able to claim either of that. But somehow Doris knew that the vampire hunter could not rescue her now.

"Doris!" yelled Dan, and the huntress turned her head to see the whip fly over to her. Thrusting out her hand Doris caught it. The vampire was so focused on his vicious intent he didn't react fast enough to stop the flash of the whip as it struck him full in the face.

Shrieking, the Noble jumped back. Doris pressed her advantage, striking again and again. The vampire could not recover, the initial blast burning into his eyes, blinding him. The whip finally spun around his neck, dragging him to the cold floor. With a hard twist of her hand and the huntress tore the head from his body, blood blossoming at her feet.

The whole ordeal lasted barely longer than fifteen minutes but to the young woman eternity had come and gone. She dropped to her knees, gasping. In the background she heard the kids and forced herself back to her feet. Doris figured she could contemplate the horror of what she'd almost been put through later. For now, she had to get the kids out, like she'd promised D. And as for D...

...did he survive?

Snatching up the keys, the huntress quickly freed the children. For a moment fear freezed her, reminded that a short few days these same kids came at her and D, intent on harm. But doing a quick check of them she could tell whatever malady siezed them before did not appear to be active right now. Dan too, seemed alright as he grabbed her into a crushing embrace.

"Doris, I'm so glad you're okay!" Tears glistened in his eyes, but he kept them at bay.

"We have to get out of here, Dan." Doris gestured for the kids to circle her. They did so gratefully, trembling and some crying. "Listen to me, all of you. Take each other hands and follow me. We are going to leave here now."

"What about D?" cried Dan, stomping his foot in a way not unlike how she'd done earlier. "He came with you didn't he? We can't leave him!"

Biting her lip, Doris stared at the boy helplessly. No lie would spill from her lips; Dan was entirely too smart for that. "D promised he'd come as fast as he could. I made a promise to get the kids out to a carriage outside as quickly as I could. Now follow me!" Her hand extended to boy, imploring.

Dan took her hand and said to the other kids, "I told you we'd escape. Now follow us!"

Doris smiled, fighting back the fear she'd never find their way out, and the fear that even if D still lived, he soon wouldn't.


	14. Scene 14

Scene 14

Hers was the first face he ever saw. Perhaps it would also be the last.

In a single leap D landed lightly on the table, blade held horizontally before him, point posed for the neck of the Noble Queen. The guests cried out in indignation, fear and awe. Several of the females seemed on the brink of collaspe, spellbound by the dhampire's magnetism. Plates and goblets scattered, some shattering on the stone flooring.

Only the Nobles' cult leader remained seated and settled, grey eyes calmly appraising the hunter.

"D, I knew you would come."

The voice sent electric pain down the dhampire's spine, but his voice stayed as steady as his sword. "Of course you did, because you had me followed."

All the eyes of the assembled shifted from dhampire to vampire queen as each spoke. Both of them exhibited a beauty and control that mesmerized even the eldest of the Nobles present and even a simpleton could see the resemblance between the two. Long dark hair, porcelian skin and slender but strong figures.

Finally the Noble Queen rose, resting her hands on the table. "D, we should talk...privately."

"Trap, trap, trrrrrrraaaaapppp...Urgh!" With a single twist of his wrist and the symbiont was silenced. With another kick of the feet, the vampire hunter appeared before the Noble, sword lowered but not sheathed. So near her D felt his blood rushing in his veins, familiar images flashing in his mind. When she gave him a slight nod he returned it and the dhampire allowed her to lead him into an antechamber.

The door had barely shut before the vampire hugged D tightly.

"My son..."

In a moment like a miracle not only did the vampire hunter not turn away, he actually placed his unarmed hand around her shoulder. His jaw trembled slightly as he spoke, "I have not seen you in a long time...Mina." Then a breath, softer this time. "...Mother."

The left hand remained a tight fist.

"Too long, D..." Mina looked up into his dark eyes for she was a good foot and a half shorter than him. "So much has happened since you left." His mother pulled out of the embrace to wrap her own arms around herself as if from a sudden chill or to shield herself. "You left and things changed. He changed. He did this...to me."

"Because I left?" Though framed as a question, it was a statement.

"He said that he could not achieve the same level of perfection he had with you with any other so there was little point in my..." Again, his mother's voice faltered. Her eyes glazed in some distant traumatizing memory. "I begged him not to kill me but the only way he'd consent to that was to..."

"Make you a Noble." No matter how softly D said it, a jagged edge cut the last word.

"What choice did I have?" Mina spun around, lovely face twisted. "You left me to this fate. He did this to me because of you!" A slender finger jabbed into his strong as steel chest. Then his mother's jaw sagged. "You must return to him, D, or this is no hope for me. I will be cursed to live this undead life for eternity!"

"Return...to him?" There was no emotion to those words.

His mother turned around and as a pool of white roses did her gown form as she sank to her knees. "Please, D, you must do this for me. You are the reason I suffer like this...you must be the one to take it away!"

"By bending myself to his will? By becoming as he would have me be?" There was a sliver of ice in that tone. D stared past the genuflected figure of his mother, an image that reminded him of another time long ago in a dark castle.

His face shadowed. "You would free yourself by enslaving me to him?"

Mina choked out a sob. "Have you no kind words for your own mother?"

The shadow softened, the hard lines in the dhampire's face relaxing. Then in another remarkable moment, D lowered to his own knees and wrapped his arms around his mother. Though the vampire hunter scented danger in the air for the moment he let himself just experience the feeling, a feeling he had thought long ago lost.

That feeling of belonging, of a child's emotional nourishment from a mother.

"Will you...will you do as I ask?" A small voice, broken and hopeful. "Will you save your mother?"

That feeling of belonging shrank into four walls that rapidly closed around him. The thought of

servitude to his father shut off the airway, blurring his sight until all he could see and breathe was the past...a past reeking of blood and death, images of destruction swirling around him. And throughout all that sensory overload flashed one picturesque face, pulling him out of the darkness.

Doris.

Then Dan's face. And the faces of nine other children.

"I...cannot. Mother, I cannot." The words tore from his throat, sounding alien. Slowly D disentangled himself from Mina, releasing her and lifiting a leg to be on one bended knee. Before he could stand though she spun around and ensared him in the embrace again. Only this time she held him and her face twisted, tormented.

For a single heartbeat there the vampire hunter thought he heard the sound of unleashed metal but no blade was forthcoming. "I understand, my son...indeed, how could I ask that of you? Just, wait here a moment with me. We'll find some other way." Her sigh floated so softly in the air only one of D's heritage could hear it.

"There is another way..."

D uttered a slight gag of pain. Looking down he saw a blade protruding from his chest, blood dripping out. Another inch to the left and the dhampire would have instantly perished. Drawing back, his mother stood up and towered over him. The dark halo of hair and pearly dress somehow lost it's luster of purity and instead radiated shadows.

"I had no wish to do this, D, but you've left me no other choice." With a blur of motion the Noble Queen leapt at him again, this time waving another, longer, blade. D rose and sidestepped all the while with the blade in his chest. His own sword came up to parry her next strike and for a moment the blades were locked as their own eyes seemed to be.

"If I cannot turn you then I am to kill you!" shouted Mina, eyes ablaze with the crimson of a Noble.

"And since I cannot save you, then I must kill you," D responded, deadpanned.

Sparks flew between blades and eyes, burning, clashing, biting as only the tempered steel and soul could conjure. When Mina made a downward cut the dhampire blocked, turning his own weapon upon his mother in a smooth sideways slash. Blocked. D was easily the better swordsman but the vampire hunter was more than aware of the roar outside the door, the roar of dozens of vampires. No matter his skill, he would surely fall.

His mother screeched, "Come and save your queen!" In the distant her son could hear the vampires mobbing, drawing weapons and hollering for their cult leader.

Before he would have thought: what would that matter? This was the life predestined for him, to die slaying his kin. That was before her face flickered into his mind. Doris's. Doris's and the ten children, all counting on him. Maybe there was more to his life than blood, battle and death? Could the dhampire dare to pretend that he could have more?

"Time to exercise the better part of valor?" squeaked his symbiont through his clenched fist.

D's eyes slid to the door. "Yes." Launching himself into the air his long curtain of melted midnight hair streaming behind, D made a feint. His mother took the bait and ducked back to give him a generous portion of room, more than enough room to take to his heels.

He could only hope that the entire hall wouldn't be overwhelmed with vampires once he got there. D left bloody footprints and broken emotions in the room as he fled.


End file.
